Anthonomus rubi on Strawberry Fruit: Its Biology, Ecology, Damage, and Control from an IPM Perspective

Abstract

The strawberry blossom weevil (SBW), Anthonomus rubi, is a well-documented pest of strawberry. Recently, in strawberry fields of Trento Province (north-east Italy), new noteworthy damage on fruit linked to SBW adults was observed, combined with a prolonged adult activity until the autumn. In this new scenario, we re-investigated SBW biology, ecology, monitoring tools, and potential control methods to develop Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Several trials were conducted on strawberry in the laboratory, field and semi-natural habitats. The feeding activity of adult SBW results in small deep holes on berries at different stages, causing yield losses of up to 60%. We observed a prolonged survival of newly emerged adults (>240 days) along with their ability to sever flower buds without laying eggs inside them in the same year (one generation per year). SBW adults were present in the strawberry field year-round, with movement between crop and no crop habitats, underlying a potential role of other host/feeding plants to support its populations. Yellow sticky traps combined with synthetic attractants proved promising for both adult monitoring and mass trapping. Regarding control, adhesive tapes and mass trapping using green bucket pheromone traps gave unsatisfactory results, while the high temperatures provided by the black fabric, the periodic removal of severed buds or adults and Chlorpyrifos-methyl application constrained population build-up. The findings are important for the development of an IPM strategy.

Biology of Anthonomus testaceosquamosus Linell, 1897 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): A New Pest of Tropical Hibiscus

“…HBW oviposition did not differ between flower buds and artificial diet and was similar to values reported for A. grandis [6,7] and A. eugenii [10,24,25]. However, unlike these two and other congeneric weevil species [26,27], HBW oviposits multiple eggs per flower bud. Under laboratory conditions, HBW females were found to oviposit up to 12 eggs per bud, while the maximum number of eggs that has been found per bud in the field is four.…”

Arthropod Pest Management in Strawberry

“…Research findings suggest that yellow sticky traps combined with synthetic attractants are efficient for adult monitoring and mass trapping of A. rubi [ 76 ]. For management, periodic removal of severed buds or adults is found to be effective [ 76 ].…”

“…Research findings suggest that yellow sticky traps combined with synthetic attractants are efficient for adult monitoring and mass trapping of A. rubi [ 76 ]. For management, periodic removal of severed buds or adults is found to be effective [ 76 ]. Parasitoid wasps from the families Braconidae (Ichneumonoidea) and Pteromalidae (Chalcidoidea) have been recorded as parasitoids of the larval stages of A. rubi in Europe [ 74 , 77 ].…”

The complete mitochondrial genome of Coccotorus beijingensis Lin et Li, 1990 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Curculioninae, Anthonomini) and its phylogenetic implications

“…The genus Anthonomus contains over 700 species, of which some are considered agricultural pests ( Vossenberg et al 2019 , Zijp and Blommers 2002 , Perkin et al 2021 , Revynthi et al 2021 , Tonina et al 2021 ). There are only four known species of the genus Coccotorus in the world ( Burke and Ahmad 1967 ), all of them from the Americas ( Dietz 1891 , Brown 2012 ).…”